Holmes County FCAT scores up from last year

By Cecilia Spears

Published: Tuesday, June 3, 2014 at 04:25 PM.

BONIFAY – Scores are in for Holmes County District Schools’ FCAT for Reading and Math for the third grade, writing for fourth, eighth and tenth grades and the FCAT retake scores for the twelfth grade, showing increases in most areas.

Holmes County Superintendent of Schools Eddie Dixon said he was very pleased with the scores in Reading and Writing. Though he said he was disappointed in the Mathematics scores he said he could not fault the students or the teachers.

“It has been a tough year across the state because of Common Core,” said Dixon. “Most of our staff was preparing for the transition over before the whole program came to a halt. I am pleased but never satisfied and we’ll continue our efforts to prepare for the new Florida Standards.”

Mathematics Florida Standards (MAFS) andLanguage Arts Florida Standards (LAFS) has been selected to replace the FCAT 2.0 exams beginning with the 2014-2015 school year and was approved by the Florida State Board of Education on February 18, 2014.

Here are the latest scores released by the FDOE:

Third Grade Reading:

Third grade Reading had a passing percentage of 56 percent, which is two percent higher from the previous year’s 54 percent average.

BONIFAY – Scores are in for Holmes County District Schools’ FCAT for Reading and Math for the third grade, writing for fourth, eighth and tenth grades and the FCAT retake scores for the twelfth grade, showing increases in most areas.

Holmes County Superintendent of Schools Eddie Dixon said he was very pleased with the scores in Reading and Writing. Though he said he was disappointed in the Mathematics scores he said he could not fault the students or the teachers.

“It has been a tough year across the state because of Common Core,” said Dixon. “Most of our staff was preparing for the transition over before the whole program came to a halt. I am pleased but never satisfied and we’ll continue our efforts to prepare for the new Florida Standards.”

Mathematics Florida Standards (MAFS) andLanguage Arts Florida Standards (LAFS) has been selected to replace the FCAT 2.0 exams beginning with the 2014-2015 school year and was approved by the Florida State Board of Education on February 18, 2014.

Here are the latest scores released by the FDOE:

Third Grade Reading:

Third grade Reading had a passing percentage of 56 percent, which is two percent higher from the previous year’s 54 percent average.

The number of students taking the test have increased to 268 from last year’s 242.

Nineteen percent of students scored a level of 1, with last year being 14 percent; 25 percent of students scored a level of 2, with last year being 33 percent; 29 percent of students scored a level of 3, with last year being 26 percent; 19 percent of students scored a 4, with last year being 23 percent; and nine percent of students scored a 5, with last year being five percent.

Average points earned in each content area are: Vocabulary 5, which was 5 last year; Reading Application 11, which was 11 last year; Literary Analysis: Fiction and Nonfiction 8, which was 9 last year; and Informational Text and Research Process 5, which was 5 last year.

Third Grade Mathematics:

Third grade Mathematics has a passing percentage of 39, which is seven percent lower than the previous year’s 46 percent average.

Twenty-eight percent of students scored a level of 1, with last year being 21; 33 percent of students scored a level of 2, with last year being 33 percent; 25 percent of students scored a level of 3, with last year being 33 percent; 12 percent of students scored a level of 4, with last year being 11 percent; and two percent of students scored level of 5, with last year being two percent.

Average points earned in each content area are: Number: Operations, Problems, and Statistics 14, which was 14 last year; Number: Fractions 5, which was 6 last year; and Geometry and Measurement 8, which was 9 last year.

Fourth Grade Writing:

Fourth Grade Writing had a passing percentage, 3.5 and above, of 41 percent, which is two percent higher from the previous year’s 39 percent average.

The number of students taking the test has remained the same from last year at 246, with an average score of 3, which is down by .2 percent from last year, which was 3.2 and an Unscorable Percentage of 2, which is two percent higher from last year, which had none.

Three percent of students scored 1.0, with last year being three percent; two percent of students scored 1.5, with last year being four percent; 12 percent of students scored 2.0 percent, with last year being eight percent; 10 percent of students scored a 2.5, with last year being 13 percent; 30 percent scored a 3.0 percent, with last year being 34 percent; 17 percent scored a 3.5, with last year being 10 percent; 21 percent scored a 4.0, with last year being 18 percent; none scored 5.0 percent, with last year being 2 percent; none scored 5.5 percent, with last year being one percent; and none scored 6.0, which remains the same as last year.

Eighth Grade Writing:

Fourth Grade Writing had a passing percentage, 3.5 and above, of 50 percent, which is eight percent higher from the previous year’s 42 percent average.

The number of students taking the test increased from last year at 237, with last year being 234, with an average score of 3.3, which is increase by .2 percent from last year, which was 3.1 and an Unscorable Percentage of 0, which remains the same as last year.

One percent of students scored a 1.0, with last year being 5 percent; two percent of students scored a 1.5, with last year being two percent; eight percent of students scored a 2.0, with last year being 10 percent; nine percent scored a 2.5, with last year being 13 percent; 30 percent scored a 3.0, with last year being 29 percent; 21 percent scored a 3.5, with last year being 19 percent; 17 percent scored 4.0, with last year being 13 percent; eight percent scored 4.5, with last year being six percent; three percent scored 5.0 percent, with last year being two percent; none scored 5.5 percent, with last year being one percent; and one percent scored 6.0, with none scoring last year.

Tenth Grade Writing:

Tenth Grade Writing had a passing percentage, 3.5 and above, of 53 percent, which is three percent higher from the previous year’s 50 percent average.

The number of students taking the test decreased from last year at 194, with last year being 204, with an average score of 3.3, which is increase by .1 percent from last year, which was 3.2 and an Unscorable Percentage of 0, which remains the same as last year.

Two percent of students scored 1.0, with last year being one percent; four percent of students scored 1.5, with last year being two percent; seven percent scored 2.0, with last year being nine percent; 12 percent scored a 2.5, with last year being 12 percent; 22 percent scored 3.0, with last year being 25 percent; 21 percent scored a 3.5, with last year being 22 percent; 26 percent scored a 4.0, with last year being 18 percent; six percent scored a 4.5, with last year being 7; one percent scored a 5.0, with last year being two percent; one percent scored a 5.5, with last year being none; and one percent scored a 6.0, with last year being none.

Spring 2014 FCAT 2.0 Reading and FCAT Mathematics Retake for Grade 12

Twelfth Grade Reading had a passing percentage of 19 percent, which is four percent higher from the previous year’s 15 percent average.

The number of students taking the test increased from last year at 32, with last year being 27, with an average developmental scale score of 226, which is increase by 1 point from last year, which was 225.

There were no twelfth grade Mathematics retakes this year, which is a decrease from last year at 10.

According to the Florida Department of Education, Florida’s recent academic gains have received national attention, jumping from 11th to 6th in the nation for educational quality in 2013. Florida has the highest graduation rate in the nation for Hispanic students.

In the past decade, the number of Florida graduates participating in AP courses has more than doubled, and the number of low-income graduates taking AP courses has increased tenfold.

Florida’s graduation rate is 75.6 percent for 2012-13 – an increase of 1.1 percentage points over the prior year and up five percentage points since 2010-11.

Next year, a new assessment based on the Florida Standards will replace the FCAT 2.0, with the Florida Standards for mathematics and English language arts stress a broader approach for student learning, including an increased emphasis on analytical thinking. The new and more rigorous standards, a new assessment was needed to measure student progress, according to the FDOE.